New This Week
Critics & Publications
Archives: A-Z Index
Advanced Search

Upcoming Release Calendar
Awards & Bests By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores
How Metascores Are Calculated
Discuss Film In Our Forums

sort by name

sort by score

38 12 Rounds
xx Baby on Board
xx Bob Funk
62 Cherry Blossoms
38 Confessions of a Shopaholic
38 Crossing Over
38 Dark Streets
58 Defiance
45 Fanboys
31 Fired Up
37 Forever Strong
34 Friday the 13th
72 Gran Torino
47 He's Just Not That Into You
47 Inkheart
52 International, The
45 Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience
50 Madea Goes to Jail
51 Morning Light
51 My Bloody Valentine 3-D
29 New in Town
28 Nobel Son
40 Outlander
39 Paul Blart: Mall Cop
56 Phoebe in Wonderland
36 Pink Panther 2
xx Powder Blue
69 Revolutionary Road
20 Spinning Into Butter
17 Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li
64 Thousand Years of Good Prayers, A
63 Tokyo!
74 Two Lovers
56 Valkyrie
91 Waltz with Bashir
22 What Goes Up

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys, The
ThinkFilm Inc.

Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys, The reviews


8.8

based on 31 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 20 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

MPAA RATING: R for language, sexual content and youth substance use

Starring Kieran Culkin, Jena Malone, Emile Hirsch, Vincent D'Onofrio, Jodie Foster, Jake Richardson, Tyler Long, and Melissa Suzanne McBride

Based on Chris Fuhrman's original and audacious coming-of-age novel, this film is a 70's-set drama featuring two charming but irreverent Catholic high schoolers who confront the mysteries of adulthood. (ThinkFilm)

GENRE(S):	Drama
WRITTEN BY:	Jeff Stockwell Michael Petroni Chris Fuhrman (book)
DIRECTED BY:	Peter Care
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: November 5, 2002 Video: November 5, 2002 Theatrical: June 14, 2002
RUNNING TIME:	105 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

Essentially a coming-of-age story set in working-class North Carolina in the 1970s. But it's so startlingly original that it transcends the genre. This is a wonderful film, from puckish start to momentous finish.

The New York Times Stephen Holden

The masterstroke of this small, heartfelt directorial debut (by Peter Care, from a screenplay by Jeff Stockwell) is its integration of animated sequences (by Todd McFarlane) in which action-adventure caricatures of the comic book characters parallel or comment on events in the boys' lives.

Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas

The look and feel of the film is entirely beguiling. It is deliberately not a period piece, heavy with dated styles and fads, but instead evokes a sense of timelessness.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

Steers refreshingly clear of the usual cliches. Character takes the wheel and dictates the action, not the other way around.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

One of the most inventive, funny and ultimately tragic coming-of-age movies in years.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

A fine, inventive '70s period piece about friendship, first love, and growing up to face the hard lessons of life.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

First-time director Peter Care crafts something darkly funny and touching from a coming-of-age fable that might have drifted into formula without deeply felt performances from Culkin and Hirsch and dazzling animation from Todd McFarlane (Spawn) that brings the boys' comic fantasies to jolting life.

Village Voice J. Hoberman

Has marked affinities to "Ghost World" and "Donnie Darko." It's more amorphous and less sharply drawn than either but has an acute sense of guilty secrets and secret places.

Washington Post Ann Hornaday

Sharp, lively, funny and ultimately sobering film.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

The movie has no profound insights to offer, but its nimble acting and lifelike dialogue make it entertaining as well as thoughtful. Think "Stand by Me" meets "Ghost World," and you just about have it.

New York Post Megan Lehmann

Infused with the hazy golden glow of nostalgia and unfolds at a leisurely pace, reminiscent of "The Virgin Suicides."

ReelViews James Berardinelli

Isn't the best coming-of-age story to hit the big screen, but it skirts new territory, and does so with a flare that earns it a recommendation.

Portland Oregonian Kim Morgan

It's a shame director Care didn't take more time with his characters, even making the film a bit longer to deepen the connections between them. Still, The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys is a keen slice of teen angst and peril.

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

Foster is strident, Vincent D'Onofrio has little to do but chain-smoke thoughtfully as an accessible priest, and the physical atmosphere is hazy.

Variety David Rooney

The film's chief shortcoming is perhaps its failure to convey a stronger, more atmospheric sense of the repressive 1970s Catholic school environment that breeds the titular boys' rebellion and wild flights of fancy.

LA Weekly Chuck Wilson

The British music-video director Peter Care (making his feature debut) and screenwriters Jeff Stockwell and Michael Petroni have retained much of the wry, teen-wise dialogue from the late Chris Fuhrman's cult-hit novel, while giving his story arc a fuller, more rounded shape.

Austin Chronicle Steve Davis

In many ways, this is the thinking-person's teen movie.

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

Like watching somebody else's flashback and wondering what you were doing then instead.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

If the film had been less extreme in the adventures of its heroes, more willing to settle for plausible forms of rebellion, that might have worked. It tries too hard, and overreaches the logic of its own world.

Chicago Reader Ted Shen

Coming-of-age drama is pretty familiar stuff.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Keith Phipps

Young costars carry the film, creating real characters from a generally flat script and Peter Care's largely undistinguished direction, both of which conspire to keep Altar Boys' danger at a distance.

New Times (L.A.) Luke Y. Thompson

Give Care and McFarlane points for trying to do something innovative with the same old thing. But realize that, as spruced up as the facade may be, this movie is indeed still the same old thing.

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

Undone by simply trying too hard.

Slate David Edelstein

The movie says that the rebellious spirit that generates art can also consume and destroy -- that there's no undangerous way to ride the tiger.

TV Guide Ken Fox

There are moments of wonderful insight, but while the booming, fully animated adventures of the Atomic Trinity (by "Spawn" creator Todd McFarlane) that Care intercuts with the live action at first seem a good idea, they ultimately upset the film's carefully established mood.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

It's all way too heavy-handed, though nicely acted by Hirsch, Culkin, and, especially, Jena Malone.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Paula Nechak

There are some nice ideas floating around this ambitious film, as well as attempts to say them in a unique way.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

There are 10 minutes of animation in the film, and it could have used a few more: They have a spirited, inventive energy that the rest of this well-intentioned but awfully melodramatic movie lacks.

San Francisco Chronicle Carla Meyer

A touching but odd mix of live action and animation.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

The dangers in the lives of these Catholic teens are self-made; they spring from small-town boredom and lead to a conclusion that's meant to be emotionally crushing but is only slightly affecting.

Chicago Tribune Robert K. Elder

The director's lack of restraint and overabundance of ambition makes "Altar Boys" not boring, but troubled.

The average user rating for this movie is 8.8 (out of 10) based on 20 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Jasmine S. gave it a10:
This movie was really amazing to watch, it makes me think of real life situations, and how it really is like growing up. With tragedy and some predictable, yet unexpected twists.. I loved it! The acting was just great from young people.. I really recommend watching this movie. It touched me, and I loved watching it. It's like me & my friends!

John M. gave it a5:
It's not uninteresting, but not very good either. When an ending is this predictable, it fails to deliver it's emotional payload. However I will give the ending credit for not following typical Hollywood patterns.

Billy L. gave it a10:
This movie was awesome hirsch and culkin are reallllyyyyy hott!!!!

Juliana SV gave it a 10:
Hi!.. I´m from Argentina, and i ve to say that i love this movie... It s a great film to make us see differentt situations or emotions where the love or the friendship are the most umbreakebles things... I really laugh, cry and stay very quite to cacht any scene... I believe this´s a great movie not just for the great script or the ambientation; the people who made that possible really did a good job... Emile Hirsch is one of the most realist actors that i ve seen...he is just great!!!

Laura B. gave it a 10:
I love this movie to death. I recommend it to anyone anywhere. The book rocks harder than the movie so you may want to check it out, too. It's a shame that Chris Fuhrman died of cancer in 1991, only completing The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys, but that just makes it even more precious.

Hollye C. gave it a 9:
I loved this movie, i thought it was great. i would've given it a 10 but it was a bit of a shocker when ...(spoilers omitted)... i guess having a dramatic turn is good in a movie but it did get a bit boring and somewhat lost my attention, maybe i just have a short attention span, oh well. i really liked it because emilie hirsch and kieran culkin are very hott and good actors. that's my review on the movie, it's not very specific, but whatever. oh yeah, it would've been a lot better if joey wasn't in the movie, he was kind of wierd.. no offense to you joey lovers out there.. since i know he has so many.

Emma R. gave it a 10:
Love the movie! I especially like the way the comic bits are used to portray escapism and the fantasy world of the boys. Fits beautifully with the storyline. If not for the tragic ending, though, the plot would have been predictable. Good acting, great soundtrack!

Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys, The ThinkFilm Inc.

Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys, The
ThinkFilm Inc.